All the Devils' hottest news, from notes to numbers to neutral-zone traps

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Patrik Elias was among the Devils who said the players’ “effort” wasn’t good enough in Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to Boston.

He’s expecting the team to show up with a lot more in tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild at Prudential Center.

“You certainly hope so,” Elias said. “You cannot show up the way we did last game. Otherwise, it’s going to be over for us quickly. Not every night you’re going to feel perfect, but you cannot have 18 guys not feeling good on the same night. We have to pick each other up in this situation when you feel that someone is not going that well or not feeling well.

“It’s up to us to make sure that we’re positive and lift each other up right now. One play can change the momentum, can change the feeling of the game and that’s the way we’ve got to look at it.”

The Devils know the long odds they are facing being five points out of a playoff spot with only 13 regular season games remaining and needing to jump over three teams to get in. They say they’re concentrating right now only on tonight’s game, though.

“We’ve just got to come out and give ourselves a chance,” defenseman Andy Greene said. “We have to come out and play a hard team game and leave it all out there. We can’t sit here and think about some things we could have done better or should have changed or whatnot. We’ve just got to go out and do it and leave it all out there.”

***Although Devils coach Pete DeBoer said that he still has some decisions to make on tonight’s lineup, it appears that right wing Damien Brunner and Steve Bernier and defenseman Peter Harrold will be the healthy scratches and the seven defensemen will dress.

Defenseman Anton Volchenkov said “it looks like” he is playing tonight after being a healthy scratch Tuesday and rookie defenseman Eric Gelinas said similar about the idea of the team playing seven defensemen.

Center Jacob Josefson skated this morning on the third line with Ryane Clowe and Dainius Zubrus on his wings and was looking forward to the opportunity after being a healthy scratch six of the last seven games.

“Of course, it’s exciting for me,” Josefson said. “I’ve played with Zubie quite a lot the other years, not really with Clowie. I’m looking forward to it. They’re two great players.”

Josefson got the word Wednesday to be ready to play tonight.

“They kind of told me yesterday I should prepare to play today,” Josefson said. “They told me that I played good last game and just try to keep playing like that.”

Josefson was disappointed when he was a healthy scratch Tuesday because he thought he played well filling in for the injured Ryan Carter Saturday at Tampa Bay. He’s just happy to get another chance.

“I think I played well in Tampa,” he said. “Maybe they saw something there. I just want to go out there and bring a lot of energy to the team. My legs should be fresh.”

***Bernier will be a healthy scratch for the first time this season after playing in the team’s first 69 games and putting up thee goals and eight assists, mostly skating on the fourth line. He said he understands the decision because he has not been producing.

He’s gone 41 consecutive games without scoring a goal.

“We want to find a way to win, so it’s kind of my turn,” said Bernier, who has not scored since Dec. 2 in Montreal. “So, we’ll regroup, clear your head and, hopefully, we’ll win tonight and get on a roll.”

Bernier said he’s been concentrating on playing better defensively and, though he has a team-worst minus-15 defensive rating, believes he has been. He has been even over the last 30 games.

“I think I’ve been playing all right,” Bernier said. “Obviously, I didn’t score goals and didn’t do very good offensively, but at the same time I’ve been playing way better defensively. My plus-minus is bad, but it was there at Christmas time. That was a part I wanted to improve on, but in this game you need to score goals.

“So, we’ll sit this one and we’ll come back stronger mentally the next time.”

Bernier admitted his scoring drought has bothered him.

“Nobody wants to be in that position, but, at the same time, I won’t cheat just to be selfish,” he said. “I don’t really care what people say about not scoring for a while. At the same time, I want to score bad because it’s good for momentum and for yourself and for your team. But I will not cheat to get that goal.”

***Carter will miss his third game in a row with an upper-body injury he sustained last Friday in Florida.

“Every report I have that there positive results from X-rays or MRIs, but he’s not available yet,” DeBoer said. “Like positive as in good, not positive like broken.”

***Goaltender Cory Schneider will be looking to rebound tonight after giving up 15 total goals in losing his last three starts.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt we’re going to get a good game out of him,” DeBoer said. “There’s no question about that.”

Ilya Bryzgalov will start in net for the Wild.

***Center Travis Zajac has been producing lately with four goals and four assists in the last seven games, but DeBoer said he’s basically doing the same things he’s been doing all season.

“Travis is Travis,” DeBoer said. “You get the consistent game and effort out of him. Pucks are going in for him now. I think he’s got a little bit of confidence around the net, but I don’t see a big change in what he brings to the rink. He gives you what he’s got when he shows up and puts his skates on.”

***Greene almost did a face plant stepping on the ice for the morning skate today. He said he stepped directly on a puck as it was sliding by. Goaltender Martin Brodeur, who was right behind Greene, got a good chuckle out of it.

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.